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The OlympianJune 17, 2007Four months ago, Lacey resident Janice Langbehn, her partner Lisa Pond and their children Katie, David and Danielle, ages 10 to 13, were set for a relaxing cruise from Miami to the Bahamas. But Pond, Langbehn's partner for nearly 18 years, was stricken in Miami with a brain aneurysm and died. After Pond was taken to the emergency room, Langbehn said she was informed by a social worker that they were in an "anti-gay state" and that they needed legal paperwork before Langbehn could see Pond. The family was not allowed to be with her in the emergency room, and Langbehn's authority to make decisions for Pond was not recognized. [Link]

The Stranger's BlogJune 16, 2007Dan Savage writes, "The Washington State domestic partnership law includes the right to inherit property in the absence of a will but it does not mandate health insurance coverage for DPs or social security benefits (which are, unfortunately, in the hands of the feds). Still, if they're passing laws in Colombia—Colombia!—that go farther than Washington's DP law, we can and should do better, and demand more, during the next legislative session." [link]

Inside Higher EdJune 15, 2007Michigan's public colleges and universities were barred by a state appeals court in February from offering health and other benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of employees. So Michigan State University is trying another tack: extending benefits to people it labels "other eligible individuals." [Link]

New York MagazineJune 15, 2007"This is one of the major social injustices of our time," Rabbi Ayelet Cohen said. "I cannot, in good conscience, participate in a system that actively excludes and discriminates against same-sex couples" — including her 4,000 congregants. [Link]

The Boston GlobeJune 15, 2007The urgency, and power, of telling your stories, supporting public education efforts, and talking about why marriage matters: Representative Richard J. Ross, a Republican from Wrentham, had a revelation Wednesday afternoon after meeting with a gay Republican who presented him with this challenge: As director of his family's funeral home, Ross had surely treated every family the same, no matter what their race, religion, or sexual orientation. So why would he do anything else in his other job, as a lawmaker? [Link]

The Bay Area Reporter June 14, 2007 Evan Wolfson, the founder of Freedom to Marry, said, "America is involved in a civil rights conversation right now across kitchen tables, courts, and legislatures as people grapple with the questions we have addressed here today. It begins with understanding that real people's lives are at stake."[Link]

The Boston GlobeJune 14, 2007"For me, what all this comes down to is this: Same gendered couples are taxpaying, law-abiding citizens, who are important community contributors, well-loved and well-respected by their families, friends, neighbors and employers. They deserve and are entitled to the same legal protections enjoyed by all others citizens of our state." [Link]

365Gay.comJune 13, 2007The poll asked likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, "In your opinion, which one issue is most important to your vote in the presidential primary? Which is next most important? What is the third most important?" It found that the war in Iraq topped the list at 36 percent, followed by illegal immigration at 11 percent and then the economy at 9 percent. Marriage for gay and lesbian couples was 17th on the list with the number of replies too low to measure. [link]

Nichi Bei Times June 7, 2007Rev. Yoshii pledged his support for LGBT persons and their families as well. He said that the issue is a personal one for API clergy. "We know about laws that have been used against us, to exclude us to, marginalize us, to not grant us civil rights," Rev. Yoshii explained. "That's why we come and stand in support of (the marriage rights) of same-sex couples." [Link]

Hour.caJune 7, 2007A study commissioned by the former federal Liberal government was finally released to the public in May after its author had to resort to Canada's Access to Information Act to get the Tories to release it. The report compares the results of almost 50 North American, European and British studies about families headed by gay and lesbian parents from North America, with the results of another 25 studies of single-parent families. The international studies span the past 30 years. [Link]